Activate approved normal Mentat and document Emperor gift ruling

docs/RULE_DECISIONS.md

@@ -1,6 +1,20 @@
 # Rule decision index
 
-Updated 8 October 2026. This is the authoritative navigation index for existing decisions, not a replacement rulebook or a new ruling. Detailed linked contracts retain their source citations and exact supported boundaries. Runtime follow-ups supersede historical absence claims; passing tests establish software behavior, not publisher authority.
+Updated 11 October 2026. This is the authoritative navigation index for existing decisions, not a replacement rulebook or a new ruling. Detailed linked contracts retain their source citations and exact supported boundaries. Runtime follow-ups supersede historical absence claims; passing tests establish software behavior, not publisher authority.
+
+## User decisions — 11 October 2026
+
+- **Normal Mentat:** approve the existing uniform private card-show step,
+  including exact matches and sole eligible cards. Activate it normally in
+  supported Leader Skills development games; remove the separate question
+  opt-in. Older opened unversioned battles retain their original sequence.
+  [Approved flow](MENTAT_QUESTION.md#normal-activation-and-approved-ux--11-october-2026).
+- **Bureaucrat / Emperor gifts:** gifts are not payments. They create no
+  Bureaucrat opportunity or qualifying-threshold disclosure; exact amounts
+  remain private to giver/recipient. Other payment paths are unchanged.
+  [Gift ruling](BUREAUCRAT_PAYMENTS.md#user-ruling--11-october-2026).
+
+These decisions do not open public module/faction or complete-mode gates.
 
 ## Content-first Basic prototypes — 8 October 2026
 
@@ -421,7 +435,7 @@ dedicated retrieved worked FAQs. [Contract and remaining limits](HOMEWORLD_OCCUP
 | Native E1/E2 Leader Skills / Tech Tokens | Fresh supported Ixian/Tleilaxu/CHOAM/Richese3..6 Basic/Advanced keeps original native deck/roster limits, all14 skills, cache and printed Tech setup. Original typed payments/rescue/card cleanup precede mandatory winner token reward; Tleilaxu A.1–3 expressly preserves that reward before Face Dance. Actual Charity affects Production, not Axlotl; native CHOAM initial income is not poverty Charity. Separate Banker/Mentat bounds and unrelated guards remain. E3/other overlays, public starts and save conversion are excluded. This composes sourced rules, not a new interpretation. | [Scope, supplied physical21/38 and evidence](LEADER_SKILLS_RUNTIME.md#native-e1e2-tech-tokens-composition--4-october-2026) |
 | Advanced Leader Skills / Stronghold Cards | Fresh classic or supported E1/E2 native2..6 Advanced preserves all14 skills, six unused cards, original decks/cache/wallets and actual end-Mentat claims; optional Tech requires3..6. Arrakeen bank subsidy is separate from actual payer debit/Banker threshold and original CHOAM income. Physical defense/normal discipline, holder tie and Tabr/Tuek income compose original skill outcomes. Suk/native cleanup and mandatory Tech precede Face Dance, retaining original rewards and one killed-skill return. Copied-Diplomat/active skill-Stone and unrelated guards remain. Basic Strongholds, E3/other overlays, public starts and save conversion are excluded. | [Authorized physical21/38, existing effects and evidence](LEADER_SKILLS_RUNTIME.md#advanced-stronghold-composition--4-october-2026) |
 | Standalone E3 Skills / Tech / Stronghold Cards | Original Ecaz OR Moritani ecaz33/all14 rosters preserve Tech Basic/Advanced3..6 and Stronghold Advanced2..6, optionally both. Native Ecaz five-disc/temporary Duke/Advanced-Hark exclusion and Moritani skill-first assassination/normal-call forfeiture remain. Real claimed effects, original support/rescue, printed Duke6 or unused-disc bounty and one Mentat replacement compose native rewards without new ownership or income rules. E3 pairs, mixed families, allied Occupy skills, other overlays, public starts and save conversion remain excluded. | [Source contracts and bounded evidence](LEADER_SKILLS_RUNTIME.md#standalone-e3-module-composition--4-october-2026) |
-| Native Mentat preview | Explicit fresh `leader-skills --mentat-question` reuses the existing private uniform question for already-supported Basic Ixian/Tleilaxu/CHOAM/Moritani profiles. Exact/default card roles, held fallback and skill-before-faction timing are unchanged. Ordinary/public activation, empty-hand handling, Advanced native skills and other modules stay gated; this is integration, not a new answer to the pending UX question. | [Native integration and existing authority](MENTAT_QUESTION.md#native-skill-integration--2-october-2026) |
+| Normal Mentat | The 11 October user-approved uniform private show step runs before posture/faction powers in new supported Leader Skills battles, without an extra opt-in. Matching and fallback preserve the same target-owned stage and held cards. Already-opened unversioned battles do not reopen; versioned receipts remain authoritative. Empty-hand interpretation and full/public acceptance remain separate. | [Approved normal flow](MENTAT_QUESTION.md#normal-activation-and-approved-ux--11-october-2026) |
 | Normal Spice Banker local preview | Fresh classic/base33 Basic/Advanced or supported Basic native skill profiles, all14 skills alone. One additional deferred bank spice per physical card/turn/phase for another payer's one actual bank payment ≥4; no payer pooling or advance spending. Tleilaxu self-revival pays Bank; other-player revival pays Tleilaxu unless canceled. The separate free-revival award never contributes to payer debit. Actual initialized Mentat collects once; original earned-faction retention and separate-payer threshold remain provisional local policies, not answers to pending custody/split questions. No public start, retrofit or other overlays. | [Normal-band contract](SPICE_BANKER_RUNTIME.md#normal-income-local-contract--2-october-2026), [native integration](SPICE_BANKER_RUNTIME.md#basic-native-banker-integration--2-october-2026), [skill authority](LEADER_SKILLS_RULES.md) |
 | Advanced Stronghold faction integration | Fresh `stronghold-factions` admits selected E1/E2 native families and standalone Ecaz OR Moritani with classic2..6-seat Advanced, canonical selected decks and six Stronghold Cards; optional unused Tech Tokens requires3..6, without Leader Skills. Standalone E3 uses ecaz33; Moritani excludes Harkonnen. Ecaz co-control holds the card at Ecaz, but only the selected actual holder-plan receives its effect; fixed Ecaz strength is free, and Arrakeen funds only actual variable support. Losing Moritani retains printed Tuek income before original assassination, printed bounty and one actual Mentat replacement; winner cleanup finishes once and normal Traitor reveal forfeits assassination for the game. Existing E1/E2 No-Field/Stone/FaceDance and retained winner rewards remain. E3 pairs/mixed families, mixed No-Field/full-plan, Stone/Poison Tooth and other overlays stay guarded. This composes existing contracts, not a new ruling. Save/privacy/custody assurance follows all rules. | [E1/E2 scope](STRONGHOLD_CARDS.md#expanded-e1e2-faction-rules), [standalone E3 scope and evidence](STRONGHOLD_CARDS.md#standalone-e3-stronghold-composition--4-october-2026), [native Tech composition](EXPANSION_FACTIONS_PROTOTYPE.md#native-tech-composition--4-october-2026) |
 | Native Tech without Leader Skills | Fresh3..6 Basic/Advanced selected E1/E2 native families or standalone Ecaz OR Moritani plus classics preserve original unused three Tech Tokens through `factions`; Advanced Strongholds use the existing native entry. Physical setup, printed/first-Storm owners, phase-end income and single-player complete-set victory are unchanged. Actual Ecaz selected lead receives the original opposing token, never a joint allied holding; Basic odd Occupy remains guarded. Moritani original forfeiture/assassination and winner Tech before Face Dance reuse existing handlers. No new ruling, wallet grant, public start or save conversion. | [Original composition/source and evidence](EXPANSION_FACTIONS_PROTOTYPE.md#native-tech-composition--4-october-2026), [Stronghold contract](STRONGHOLD_CARDS.md#native-tech-composition-without-skills--4-october-2026) |
@@ -470,7 +484,6 @@ These are unresolved in the cited records. Do not infer an answer from elapsed t
 
 | Boundary | Still unresolved | Existing record |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| Bureaucrat / Emperor gifts | Whether an allied gift is a qualifying payment and whether its threshold may be revealed. Existing gift amounts are private to payer/recipient; the card and retrieved primary sources do not explicitly settle this combination. The user question is pending; no answer or exact-amount disclosure is assumed. | [Gift classification review](BUREAUCRAT_PAYMENTS.md#21-september-gift-classification-review) |
 | Reinforcements cost | The user question still asks whether to keep the card disabled, always transfer three reserve forces on every outcome, or waive only a sole traitor-call winner's cost; no answer is assumed. The bounded classic and Ecaz/Moritani prototype provisionally charges on all revealed outcomes, chooses normal reserves before elite and counts the transfer as battle losses. Those are product interpretations, not a ruling. Same-plan Harass/Stone Burner remain gated; opposing Harass is supported. Eligibility never depends on concealed matching Traitors. | [Source cost review](ECAZ_TREACHERY_RULES.md#14-september-reinforcements-cost-review) · [Bounded runtime](REINFORCEMENTS_RUNTIME.md) |
 | Harass / Stone Burner | A user question has been sent: keep the combination gated or compare forces remaining after withdrawal. No answer is assumed. The Richese card-family configuration is guarded publicly; hidden Stone Burner custody never controls eligibility. Ambiguous physical allocations and other optional modules remain unfinished. | [Current boundaries](HARASS_WITHDRAW_RUNTIME.md#current-boundaries) |
 | Recruits late accounting and rates | The earlier one/two-further-free question remains unanswered. The content-first prototype now preserves paid spice, deducts recorded actual free usage from the doubled rate and all returns from the total cap: two-free/one-paid Atreides can take two more free. This is visibly provisional, not a numerical user ruling. Unknown ledgers, pending repricing, late rate changes and same-turn replay remain guarded. | [Source alternatives](RECRUITS_RULES.md), [provisional runtime](RECRUITS_RUNTIME.md) |